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January 28, 2009

ALA Literary Award Winners are in!

Congrats to all the winners of the 2009 ALA literary award winners and honorees!
Winner of John Newbery Medal for the most distinguished contribution to children's literature:
"The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Dave McKean.

Honorees:
"The Underneath," by Kathi Appelt and illustrated by David Small
"The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom," by Margarita Engle
"Savvy," by Ingrid Law
"After Tupac & D Foster," by Jacqueline Woodson

Winner of Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for YAs:

"Jellicoe Road" by Melina Marchetta

Honorees:
"The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II, The Kingdom on the Waves," by M.T. Anderson
"The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks," by E. Lockhart
"Nation," by Terry Pratchett
"Tender Morsels," by Margo Lanagan

I haven't read most of the books on these lists, actually I've only read "The Disreputable History of Frankie Landeau-Banks"; however, I'm pretty disappointed that "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins was not even an honoree for the Printz Award. I really enjoyed Lockhart's "The Disreputable History of Frankie Landeau-Banks", but I didn't feel like it quite had the depth of "The Hunger Games". Lockhart's character Frankie had such a unique voice that sucked me into the book in the first chapter. I confess that I read the book in one sitting, but to me "The Hunger Games" quickly became one of my favorite books. Maybe this just has to do with personal preference, but I'm still disappointed.

With that said, I'm totally dying to read, "Catching Fire (The Hunger Games Series #2)." It doesn't come out until September of this year and it is going to be really hard to wait. Hopefully there will be a midnight release for the book. It would be even better if I could go to the BEA in New York and get one of the Advanced Reader Copies that Scholastic is supposedly giving out there, but that is probably just a pipe dream. Here's to dreaming : )